Malfunction
by inkwheels
Summary: Gabriel's chip malfunctions and Riley faces the consequences. One-shot.


**Author's note:** **First off, I don't own any of the characters of Intelligence. Second, I know I shouldn't be posting another story when I haven't finished the other one I've been working on, but this one's been kicking around for a while and just needed to be finished up. Third, the majority of this story was written all at once as the ideas flowed from my head. Poor Riley. I beat her up a lot.**

**Some of it makes sense, some of it doesn't, but I'm posting it as is and as a one-shot because I wanted to finish it up. All that said, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

><p>Riley knocked on Gabriel's door, surprised when he didn't answer right away. "Gabriel? Come on, we're gonna be late." She was a stickler for being on time and prided herself on it. Having to look after a man child who frequently disobeyed rules was extremely taxing on her patience.<p>

"Gabriel?"

Still no answer.

"Gabriel? Are you even up yet?"

After not getting an answer on multiple tries, she pulled out her gun. All sorts of scenarios ran through her head, most of which were ones she'd rather not have come true.

She slid her key into the lock, turning it slowly and entered the apartment, making quick work of moving through the living room and then into the bedroom where she found him lying in bed. "Gabriel? Are you okay?" Her stomach turned into a knot as she feared the worst when she still didn't receive a reply. It wasn't until she touched his neck to find a pulse that she heard a rumbling groan out of him.

Gabriel rolled onto his side and pulled the pillow over his head.

She returned her gun to her side holster and folded her arms across her chest. Looking him over, he was clearly run ragged, his hair disheveled. "Did you go to a keg party or something last night that I don't know about?"

"Noooo," he whined.

She looked at her watch. "You've got five minutes to jump in the shower and get dressed and that time starts right now."

"Not going," he mumbled.

She grabbed a handful of the comforter and sheets and dragged them off him, unfazed by his naked body staring back at her.

"Riley!" he groaned, removing the pillow from his head and placing it over his crotch.

"Get up or I'm taking the pillow, too."

"Don't you dare," he growled at her.

"Three seconds. One…two…"

"Fine!" He swung his legs over the side of the bed, keeping himself covered up, and touched his hand to the side of his head.

"What's going on with you?" Gabriel was a pain in the ass, there was no doubt about that, but a complainer was something he wasn't.

He winced and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "I have the worst headache."

Her teasing suddenly turned to concern. "Like a regular headache or…"

"I think it's the chip. Something doesn't feel right."

She went to his closet and grabbed some clothes, tossing them onto the bed next to him. "Get dressed, we'll go in and have Cassidy take a look to make sure." She didn't want to panic, but she knew the risks of the chip in his head. Cassidy had been over it a million times before they went out on missions. He'd even pulled her aside a few times to make sure she was careful to watch out for things like headaches because Gabriel wasn't the best at being honest about his health status.

He looked at her and frowned. "A little privacy?"

She laughed. "Really? I've already seen your junk so let's get to it." She walked out of the room and headed for the living room just as her phone began to ring. "Neal."

"Riley its Lillian, are you with Gabriel right now?"

"Yes. I know we're running late and I apologize but…"

"Never mind that, his chip is malfunctioning and I need you to bring him in as soon as possible."

Riley's adrenaline spiked and she felt uncertainty consume her. She swallowed down the lump that had suddenly lodged itself in her throat. "I'm on my way in now, just waiting for him to get dressed. He said he has a headache."

"Restrain him. I know he's not going to like it but it's for your own safety. We don't know what kind of effect this will have on him and it's better to err on the site of caution."

"Okay. I'll be in as soon as I can." She hung up the phone and put it in her jacket pocket. "Gabriel," she called out. "Gabriel? You okay?"

"It's getting worse."

She walked into the room and found him dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding his head. "Gabriel, listen to me. I'm gonna take you in but I need to restrain you just in case the chip does something weird. Okay?"

He slowly lifted his head. "I can't let you do that."

"Shit," she swore under her breath. "Umm, look, I know you're…"

"Shut up! Just…just shut up!" he spat, spittle flying out of his mouth as his anger began to brew. "You're _not_ going to treat me like some _freak_!" He got to his feet, his face a deep shade of red and veins protruding from his neck.

Taking her gun out, she aimed it at him. "Gabriel, calm down. You're not thinking clearly right now." The last thing she wanted to have to do is shoot him.

He started to walk towards her, sweat beading on his brow. "Oh I'm thinking just fine. And what I'm thinking is that you need to get out of my way."

"I can't do that now get down on your knees and…" She never had time to finish her sentence before he grabbed the gun from her, kicked her legs out from underneath her and sent her crashing to the floor.

"They had no right to put this thing in my head!" he said as he aimed the gun at her.

Putting her hands up in front of her, she tried to think of a way to defuse the situation. "Gabriel, listen to me. Just put the gun down and we'll go have them check you out. I'm sure they can fix it and…"

"They can't!" he yelled as a wave of pain took hold of him, stealing his focus. Riley took the opportunity to get up and tackle him to the ground, her gun skidding across the hardwood floor.

He drove a fist hard into her side, stealing the air from her lungs but she held onto his shirt and tried her best to gain the upper hand despite another devastating blow. It wasn't working. He was a big man on a good day and today he was even bigger because he was angry.

His fist met her face several times, enough to draw blood. A swirl of stars clouded her vision when he struck a mighty blow to her eye. The distraction left her vulnerable and he knew it. But this wasn't the Gabriel she knew. That Gabriel would never hurt her. This was someone else entirely.

He grabbed her gun from the floor just as she'd gotten herself onto her knees, gasping for air and steeling herself against the dizziness that had her in a strangle hold.

"Tell Lillian to find someone else to play with," he snarled at her just before pulling the trigger.

* * *

><p>Lillian paced the room as she and Nelson waited for Riley to arrive with Gabriel. "I don't like it. She should have been here by now."<p>

Cassidy flew into the room. "I'm having a hard time tracking the chip due to the malfunction but from what I could get it looks like he's not headed here. If Riley told you she was coming in," he paused for a moment and lowered his head, "then she's probably not with him."

Dialing Riley on her cell phone, Lillian nervously paced as the phone rang and rang. "She's not answering. That's not like her. Something's wrong. Dammit. Okay, you and Nelson come with me to Gabriel's apartment. We need to keep this under wraps until we can get a handle on it. The last thing we need is word getting out that our chip has gone rogue."

As they exited the building, Lillian dialed another number. "Jameson, we have a situation but I need you to work quickly and discreetly. I need you to see if you can track Gabriel's chip and find out his location. There is a malfunction with his chip. We need to find him _now_. Call me the second you have eyes on him."

The trio sped to the apartment complex and immediately went to Gabriel's apartment.

Finding the door open, Lillian walked inside and couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped her. "Oh my God, Riley!" Riley was on the floor, unmoving; a pool of blood growing beneath her.

Cassidy brushed past her, holding back the emotion that began to bubble up inside as he got a better look. "She's alive," he said as he checked her pulse and began to assess her injuries. "She's not breathing very well – single gunshot wound to the chest. I suspect her lung is collapsing." He looked up at Lillian who was already on the phone calling for an ambulance. "Hang on, Riley," he said as Nelson pressed his hand to the wound in her shoulder, his heart breaking as she let out a pained whimper but didn't wake.

"They're on their way." Her voice broke slightly, giving away her emotions.

"They better get here soon or I'm going to need to aspirate and I reeeeeeally don't want to have to do that to her. I've only seen it done once at a seminar that I attended back in the eighties and, well, that was a very long time ago and…"

"Dad," Nelson interrupted him.

"Sssorry. I…when I get nervous I talk, very quickly and randomly and….I'm doing it again."

Nelson kept pressure on Riley's wound, closing his eyes as he prayed for the ambulance to hurry.

Lillian prided herself on being able to keep her emotions in check, but her nightmare was coming true right before her eyes. "I can hear them. I'll go outside and flag them down."

Cassidy slid his hand under her, feeling around her back. "There's no exit wound so don't move her." He looked at her pale face and watched her brow crease with pain and bead with sweat. Her breathing was getting more and more labored and she was starting to gasp for air. "Help is on the way, Riley. Just hang in there." He squeezed her hand in an effort to comfort her. "I don't know how his chip could have malfunctioned like that all of a sudden," Cassidy mumbled.

"Do you think someone hacked it? Mei Chen's done it before so who's to say someone else didn't do it this time?"

He shook his head. "There was no trace of intrusion when I ran the sweep and I ran it four times to be sure."

Two EMT's rushed into the room wheeling a gurney and both Cassidy and Nelson moved out of the way so they could help their fallen friend. Cassidy offered up what little details he had of her condition but neither EMT seemed to hear him as they focused on their patient.

It didn't take long for them to stabilize her. Given her current condition, they worked quickly and soon tore out of the complex enroute to the hospital.

"Cassidy, I'll drop you off at the hospital. You can keep me updated on Riley's condition. Nelson, you'll come with me back to headquarters and we'll work with Jameson to track Gabriel down."

The two men didn't say a word and just followed Lillian out to the car.

* * *

><p>Gabriel sped down the street, his mind spinning in all directions. He rubbed his hand over his eyes trying to clear his vision. At that same moment he narrowly missed a car on the other side of the road. Grabbing the steering wheel, he turned it hard to the right and over compensated, sending the car skidding all over the road before landing in a ditch on the side – his head connecting with the window as it came to a stop.<p>

He wasn't sure how long he was unconscious, but when he came to he had no idea what had just happened or where he was.

Touching his hand to his head he could feel blood oozing down his face. Looking around, it was quiet and he took a moment to gather his bearings.

Getting out of the car, he looked around and soon found two black SUV's fast approaching. Putting his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun, he saw Lillian as she stepped out of the back of one of the cars.

"Gabriel?" she called out to him.

"Lillian. I…I um…I just veered off the road and…"

Nelson was by her side, tranquilizer gun in hand. "Gabriel, are you okay?" he asked as he slowly and cautiously approached.

"Yeah. Aside from a bump on the head I'm fine. How'd I get out here?"

"Gabriel, let's get you back to headquarters where Nelson can take a look at you. Then we can talk about what happened," Lillian suggested.

"Okay," he said without protest.

Nelson motioned for him to come with them and Gabriel did, but just as he climbed into the back of the SUV, Nelson shot him in the neck with the tranquilizer. "Sorry, Gabriel."

* * *

><p>When they got Gabriel back to the lab, they ran a series of tests to check his current status. His health appeared to be normal and the chip was back online and functioning.<p>

"This doesn't make any sense," Nelson said as he looked at the computer data. "His chip malfunctioned but then corrected itself after a few hours. I'd have to ask my father if that is a feature he built into it or not."

Lillian felt uneasy, rightfully so. Would this happen again? Would they be able to trust him out in the field? "Keep an eye on him."

She walked out into the hallway just as Cassidy had returned. "How is she?"

"She's out of surgery. They got the bullet out without any major complications but her lung was fully collapsed by the time they got here. She's got two fractured ribs and a concussion, but she's stable. I'm having her transferred to our infirmary after she's out of the ICU." He sighed heavily. "Nelson told me you found him and that his chip is back online."

"Yes. What do you make of that?"

He shook his head. "I've never seen it happen before. Unless someone hacked into the chip and made it appear as if was malfunctioning? I'll talk to Nelson and find out what the test results say."

"Keep me posted the second you find something."

"You got it." He turned and went into the lab where Gabriel was just waking up.

"What's going on?" Gabriel mumbled as he came to.

"What do you remember?" Cassidy asked taking a seat beside the table he was lying on.

"Nothing. Just that I crashed my car." He looked confused for a moment. "Riley. Oh God, was Riley with me? I…I don't remember her being in the car when I got out."

The two men looked at each other. "So you really don't remember anything prior to that?"

He shook his head. "Just going to bed last night, that's it." He looked at the two men staring at him. "What? What's going on? What are you not telling me?"

Cassidy hung his head for a second. "Your chip malfunctioned this morning. You…you umm…you attacked Riley."

Gabriel shook his head. "No. No, it couldn't…I'm fine. The chip is fine."

"She was going to bring you here but you took off. We found you just after you crashed the car. I don't know if the crash brought you back online or…"

"Where is she?" he said as he sat up and pulled off the wires stuck to his skin.

"No. Stay put. We need to do more tests," Nelson said as he tried to get him to lie back down.

"Where is she!" he yelled.

"She's in the I.C.U."

His face fell and he sat back down on the table. "What'd I do?"

"Judging by the look of the apartment and her…face, you must have had a fight and you..you shot her," he said flatly.

"Oh my God. No. There's no way." He felt sick.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel. You were the only one there with her this morning."

"No. Maybe…maybe someone broke in. Maybe they hacked my chip and when Riley showed up to get me she walked in on them and they…"

"You shot her with her gun, Gabriel."

He turned away for a moment and felt as if he might cry. "I need to see her."

"You can't," Cassidy said. "We need to make sure your chip is secure before you step foot out of this room. There is no way in hell that Lillian is going to allow you to go out these doors until we're one hundred and ten percent that you're fine."

"No! I need to see her!" He forcefully got up and headed for the door.

Lillian appeared in the doorway. "You are _not_ leaving this lab until you have been cleared, end of discussion." She folded her arms across her chest, preparing herself for a fight.

Gabriel seethed inside but knew he wasn't going to win against her. "I need to see her. Just five minutes, that's all."

She shook her head. "We'll talk about it _after_ you are cleared. Like I said, _end_ of discussion."

He set his jaw and walked back over to the table to sit back down. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>Over the next several days, Cassidy and Nelson kept a close eye on Gabriel, checking and re-checking his chip and running various tests to measure its stability. Everything appeared to check out and there was no sign of an attempted hack. The two were at a total loss as to why it happened.<p>

Riley had been allowed to leave the I.C.U. and Cassidy oversaw her relocation to a quiet room in the infirmary. They were equipped to handle all types of emergencies and had adequate staff to take care of her which gave him a small sense of relief. Still, he insisted on monitoring her care as often as possible. He liked Riley and felt for her in terms of being responsible for Gabriel's well-being. It wasn't an easy job and she'd put her life on the line several times for him and it was hard for him to see her hurt.

They finally allowed Gabriel to go see her. Cassidy walked with him and could feel the anxiety building inside him as they got closer and closer to Riley's room. "I'll wait outside," he said as he patted Gabriel's arm.

Walking into the room, his stomach plummeted to his feet when he saw her – all the wires running off of her and the machines making various noises. It was almost deafening as it overloaded his senses.

Slowly, he walked over to the side of her bed and sat down, taking her hand into his. He felt his eyes well up with tears when he looked at the bruise and cut by her eye. Reaching over, he ran the back of his hand gently down the side of her face. "I'm so sorry, Riley."

She didn't respond, nor could she. They had her heavily sedated to allow her wounds to heal and lessen the pain.

And this is the way their time together played out over the next few days until one morning he went into her room, took her hand and her eyes slowly opened.

"Riley," he whispered.

It took her a minute for everything to register in her painkiller-hazed brain, but it suddenly came flooding back and her eyes opened a little wider. "Ga-Gabriel," she mumbled, the heart monitor beeping wildly as her heart rate sped up.

"No. No. Shhhh. Relax. It's okay. It's me. I'm back to normal. Well, I've never really been _normal _but…"

She struggled to move away from him, her foggy brain trying to make sense of the situation.

Cassidy flew into the room. "Riley!" He looked at Gabriel and then back at Riley's monitors. "Riley, calm down. It's okay."

"He's…" she winced and squeezed her eyes shut against the pain.

"It's okay. Try to relax, breathe slowly. He's not going to hurt you."

Her head rolled to the side and she looked at Gabriel who was standing helplessly near-by. "The…the chip," she whispered, unable to say it any louder due to the rawness of her throat.

"It's a long story but his chip is back online." He watched her heart monitor start to return to normal and he was thankful for it. "That's it, just relax. Do you want him to leave?"

She shook her head slightly. "No." She said the word but it was barely heard.

"I'll give you two a few minutes but no more than that. You need to rest."

She nodded and bit her lower lip as she tried to get more comfortable.

Cassidy patted Gabriel's shoulder as he exited the room.

"I could say I'm sorry until the cows come home and it wouldn't be enough." He kept inching forward getting closer to the chair by the bed.

"Your…chip…'sit really okay?" she asked softly.

"They've run every damn test known to man and couldn't find anything wrong with it. They tell me I'm fine, but this," he waved his hand towards her, "this isn't fine." Tears welled in his eyes.

Her eyebrows knitted together. "Are you…crying?"

"Riley, I almost killed you!"

She looked at him through half-closed eyes. "Gonna…take a lot more…to kill me." She smiled but he didn't think it was funny.

"That's not funny, Riley. If Lillian hadn't gotten there when she did you'd be dead. That's _not_ a joke!"

"Sorry. Ease up," she said with a wince. "Trying to…make you feel…better."

He wiped his eyes and took her hand. "I wish this chip gave me the power to heal you so that you can get as far away from me as possible."

She swallowed hard and struggled to take a deep breath. "Don't say that."

"How can we work together if there's a possibility that someday I could kill you? There's no guarantee that this won't happen again."

"Gabriel."

"No! I'm serious, Riley. Look what I did to you. How can you ever trust me again or even be around me again."

"You're not shutting me out," she growled through clenched teeth, closing her eyes as a wave of pain came over her.

"Riley, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered as she struggled to manage the pain. An alarm blared from one of the monitors beside her bed.

Cassidy ran into the room, pushing past Gabriel. "Riley? Riley are you okay?" He looked at the monitor making all the noise and then turned back to her, putting a comforting hand on her arm. "Riley, relax. You need to breathe. I know it hurts but holding your breath is going to make it worse."

"Really hurts," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Gabriel looked on and his heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Riley was one of the strongest women he knew and if the pain had gotten to her like this, he knew it had to be bad.

Riley let out a breath in a series of short pants; beads of sweat formed on her brow.

"That's it," Cassidy said as he injected her with more painkillers. "Easy, just like that." He watched the numbers on the monitor return to normal and then looked up at Gabriel who was now standing near the door, as if he were shrinking away.

Riley let out a sigh and within seconds she was fast asleep.

Cassidy lowered his head for a moment before turning towards Gabriel but he was gone. "Gabriel?" He walked out of the room and found the hallway empty so he went back to the lab. Nelson was at the computer but was alone in the room. "Did Gabriel come in here?"

"No, why?"

"Come with me."

The two went to Lillian's office, walking through the open door. She didn't really have to ask what was wrong but worried that it might be Riley.

"Gabriel's gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?"

"He was in Riley's room for a little while. I don't know what they were talking about but Riley had trouble breathing and the monitor alarm went off so I went in to help. I think it freaked him out and when I turned around he was gone."

Lillian looked at Nelson. "Track him. He's incredibly unstable right now." She paused for a moment as the thoughts of having to shut his chip down went through her mind. "How's Riley?"

"She's okay. I had to sedate her. It's just going to take time."

"Let me know when she's awake again. I want to talk to her." Cassidy nodded. "And let me know the second you find him. We can't have him off the grid."

The two men left the room and she sighed heavily. She didn't want to have to get to a point where she'd have to terminate him. While that meant failure of the experiment, it more importantly meant losing him.

* * *

><p>Lillian entered Riley's room. "How are you feeling?"<p>

"Been better."

"I'm sorry this happened."

Riley shook her head. "You couldn't have predicted this."

Lillian sat down. "I don't want you talking too much, Cassidy's already given me a stern warning," she said with a smile. "What were you and Gabriel talking about earlier?"

Riley swallowed and prepared herself to speak. "He apologized. He's shutting…me out."

"I can understand he feels guilty. He's M.I.A. right now. He left a few hours ago and we can't seem to track him."

"I tried," Riley said softly.

"Tried to what?"

"To tell him I don't blame him."

Lillian broke eye contact for a moment. "We're not sure who's to blame. We're still looking into whether his chip was hacked." She looked at Riley and felt badly that her usually strong agent was lying here, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Do you know where he might have gone?"

Riley's breath hitched as she tried to inhale deeply. "No," she said through a clenched jaw. "Lillian, protecting him is my job, no matter what." She paused to steady her breath. "I know the risks, but he's also a friend."

Lillian stood and rubbed Riley's arm. She could see the pain in her eyes and thought it best that she let her rest. "Do you need something for the pain?"

She shook her head slightly. "I hate the way it…makes me feel. Can't think straight."

"Well, don't do too much thinking. Rest and get strong. I'll come by later to check on you." She smiled and knew it wasn't nearly enough to make Riley feel better.

It wasn't long before Riley lost her battle with consciousness.

Lillian chewed on her bottom lip, running a hand across Riley's face, taking note of her warm skin that most likely meant fever.

After a few moments of listening to the machines beside Riley's bed and watching her sleep peacefully, she sucked in a breath and blew it out before leaving the room.

Meanwhile, Gabriel placed a six pack down onto the rocks beside him as he sat with his legs dangling over the cliff overlooking a slowly moving stream.

Cracking open a can, he downed all of its contents and crumpled the can in his hand before tossing it to the side. He pushed through the images in his mind, trying to come up with the missing time he had supposedly been offline but there was nothing there to find.

As he opened another can, the images of Riley's bruised face filled his mind. He took a sip of the amber beverage as he mentally beat himself up over what he'd done. Riley didn't deserve to suffer for what they'd put in his head.

He finished the remaining amount of beer in the can and then pulled out his cell phone. Punching in a few numbers he waited for the caller to answer.

"Hello?"

"It's me. Remember what we talked about a while ago?"

"Is it time?"

"Yeah, it's time."

"I need to make some arrangements and will call you back."

"Do it quickly, I don't have a whole lot of time."

"I'll do my best."

"Thanks." Ending the call, he put it next to the cans. He opened another can as he started to feel the effects of the first two. He didn't care if it made him feel like shit. He didn't care if he fell off the cliff and down into the stream. Part of him felt like he deserved it for what he did to Riley.

He continued to sit there and finish off the beers before getting up, swaying as his head swam with drunkenness. He got into the car, well, one he'd "borrowed" from the agency's parking lot, and slid behind the wheel. Reclining the seat back, he passed out.

Back at the agency, Jameson worked tirelessly with Cassidy to try and track Gabriel's signal.

"Anything yet?" Lillian asked as she entered the room.

"Nothing. He's blocking us," Jameson informed her, leaning back in his chair as he felt defeated.

"I'm still working on a couple of programs that might allow us access," Cassidy announced. "Unfortunately, it just takes a lot of time to code. But if I'm correct, we'll be able to sneak around his firewall."

Lillian frowned. "If it's that easy is that why his chip has been hacked?"

Cassidy held up a hand. "I cannot prove that he was hacked. No data is missing or copied. I have the main data structure to the chip, and I am the only one that has it. Therefore, I am able to write programs around it. With just a few more hours, I should be able to bring up his exact location."

"A few hours?" Lillian asked, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"Yes. Writing this type of code takes time, unfortunately. If I don't write it correctly, it could compromise the entire chip when I send out the signal."

Lillian looked at her watch and sighed. "I guess we really don't have a choice at this point."

"Did you talk to Riley?"

"Yes. She said that Gabriel feels guilty about what happened, naturally, and that he's shutting her out. I'm assuming that he doesn't want to put her in further danger."

"They make a great team but it's a situation that is unlike any other due to the fragile nature of his chip. They're both stubborn to the core and I'm sure Riley doesn't want to abandon her duty as his protector. At the same time, Gabriel, being the gentleman and soldier that he is, doesn't want to see her get hurt anymore because of him."

"You're rambling again," Lillian said with a smile.

"Sorry," he said, a little embarrassed.

"I'll leave you to your work. Please let me know the second you're finished so that we can prepare to execute a plan."

Cassidy nodded as Lillian exited the room.

* * *

><p>Reaching over to the side table, Riley strained to get her cell phone. After a few attempts, she finally grabbed it and dialed Gabriel's number. It rang several times and went to voicemail. She hung up and dialed again. When his voicemail clicked on she hung up and dialed again. But this time he answered.<p>

"You don't give up do you?"

"No, I don't. Gabriel, where are you?"

"Aww, come on, Riley, I can't tell you that." His voice sounded off and she knew exactly why.

"Have you been drinking tequila again?"

He laughed. "No, just beer this time."

"Gabriel, please. Come back so we can talk." Her voice cracked, giving her emotions away.

"I told you, I can't be around you like this. This chip is too unstable. _I'm_ too unstable."

"That's not true and you know it. Gabriel. Please."

He was silent on the other end.

"Gabriel?"

"I don't want to hurt you again."

"You won't. Next time I'll be sure to kick _your _ass." She smiled and winced as all the talking was starting to aggravate her injuries.

"Not funny, Riley."

"If you won't come here then tell me where you are and I'll come meet you."

"No! Are you crazy? You're hurt and can't be running around town chasing after me."

"Come on. If you're drunk _you're_ in no condition to be driving anywhere. Lillian doesn't need to know about it. We'll sort it out."

"I have somewhere to be. I can't."

She sighed heavily, clutching the phone as both pain and aggravation wore on her. "I'm serious, Gabriel. Pick a place to meet and then you can go wherever you were going. You owe me at least that."

He didn't respond and for a minute she thought she heard him crying.

"Gabriel?"

"Fine. There's an abandoned gas station not far from where I am. I'll send the directions to your phone."

Relief washed over her for a moment. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay," he said before ending the call. His voice sounded broken and maybe even a little scared.

That brief moment of relief quickly disappeared now that she had to find a way to get dressed and get out of the building.

She pulled out her I.V. and swung her legs over the side of the bed, trying to keep her dizzy head from sending her back down. Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, she groaned as she got to her feet, standing there for about a minute with her eyes shut as her body processed the pain.

As soon as she felt strong enough to take a step, she opened her eyes and swallowed hard as she willed herself to move, leaning heavily against the wall in support.

"Whoa. Whoa. Where do you think you're going?" Jameson asked as he walked through the doorway, shocked at what he saw. He knew Riley was a strong woman, especially head strong, but this was ridiculous.

"Shit," she swore under her breath, startled by seeing him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you but I didn't exactly expect you to be out of bed. I'm pretty sure you haven't been released nor has your doctor allowed you…"

"Jameson!" she growled at him. She wasn't in the mood for a lecture. "Listen, I need your help with something and it needs to stay between us."

"Okay."

She looked at him, tilting her head slightly. "Swear to me."

He put his hand up. "I swear but you need to get back into bed. No offense, but you don't look so good." She didn't feel so good. Sweat was starting to cover her entire body and she felt as if it were a thousand degrees in the room. The pain…well, that was obvious.

She ignored his comment and started to explain. "I found Gabriel."

"What?"

"I'm going to meet him."

"Are you crazy? You can't leave the infirmary in your condition."

"I'm coming back after I meet with him. I…I need you to drive me…I can't…" she was cut off by a wave of pain.

He put his hands on her to keep her steady. "Come on, Riley. You can't do this to yourself. You were in the damn I.C. a few days ago!" Walking her back to bed, he helped her sit down.

"Jameson, I'm…afraid he's going to do something…if I don't get to him."

"Let me go get him and bring him here."

"No! He won't come here." She leaned to her right, trying to take the pressure off her injured side. "I have…have to go."

"Riley, you can't. You're going to hurt yourself even more."

She knew he was right. She could barely sit up never mind get up and walk, but she was determined. "I have to."

He shook his head. "I can't let you leave this room. You're white as a ghost and sweating. Do I have to remind you that you have internal stitches that could tear and cause internal bleeding? Do you want to…"

"I know. I get it."

"Let me talk to him and bring him back here. It's the only way, Riley. If I take you out of here and something happens to you, not only will I feel horrible about it but Lillian will crucify me."

Her head was spinning and she felt like she was about to pass out. "My phone," she mumbled as she lay back down. "Here." She handed him the phone. "Sent me the address."

He looked at her with grave concern. "Riley? Riley?" he called out to her when her eyes slid shut and she didn't respond.

Running out into the hallway, he grabbed the attention of a nurse and brought her into the room. "She tried to get out of bet and yanked her I.V. out. She doesn't look so good."

The nurse immediately re-inserted the I.V. needle into Riley's arm before putting a hand to her forehead. "Agent Neal? Agent Neal can you hear me?" Her brow creased. "She's burning up." Looking at Jameson, her face was full of worry. "I'm sorry I need you to leave the room while I take care of her."

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"She's running a fever. Most likely it's an infection from the bullet. I'm going to page Dr. Henderson so if you'll excuse me." She motioned towards the door and he got the hint.

Stepping out into the hallway, he looked at Riley's phone and the address that Gabriel had texted her. Plugging it into the GPS on his phone, he took off towards the exit.

* * *

><p>When Jameson pulled up to gas station after an hour drive, he saw Gabriel sitting by the side of the building on top of a pile of crates.<p>

Gabriel watched the car carefully as the door opened. Disappointment and then anger took over as he saw Jameson get out and walk towards him. "What the hell? Where's Riley? Riley said _she_ was coming."

Jameson put up a hand to try and calm him. "Look, it's just me, no one else. Only Riley and I know I'm here. She wanted to come but she…"

"I knew I shouldn't have gone along with this," he spat as he kicked a rock with his foot.

"Gabriel, listen to me. She's hurt, you know that. Hell, I found her trying to get out of her room and make a run for it but," he stopped there.

That got Gabriel's attention. "But what? Is she okay? What happened?"

"She's got an infection. I'm sure they'll be able to get it under control but she was in no condition to come here." He walked closer to where Gabriel had sat back down on the crates. He smelled of stale booze, his eyes were bloodshot and he looked scruffy.

"This is all my fault."

"Riley cares about you, Gabriel. Come back to the infirmary with me so you can talk to her there. We can straighten this whole thing out."

"I can't do that. I can't see her like that. It kills me."

"Gabriel, it wasn't your fault. It was the chip, not you. I know and Riley certainly knows it wasn't you."

He ran his hands over his face. "She told me she doesn't blame me."

"See."

"I don't know how she can say that when I nearly killed her."

Jameson sighed and put his hands on his hips. "I don't know what else to say to you then. Just know that Riley wants to talk to you and find a way for you both to move on from this. Lillian is worried and…"

Gabriel laughed. "She's only worried because her precious chip isn't around to take orders."

He knew there was no point in arguing with him. "Look, you can go do whatever it is you want after you come back and at least talk to Riley."

Gabriel shook his head. "I can't go back there! If Lillian finds out I'm there she'll lock me up in one of her freak containment rooms. She'll terminate my chip and me!" He started to pace like a wild man. "I'm gonna beat her to the punch."

"Hey, Gabriel, don't talk like that." Now Jameson fully understood Riley's concern.

Gabriel pointed to his head. "I'm getting this thing silenced for good."

Jameson's brow creased in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Once I have this thing taken care of, then I won't have to worry about malfunctions and hacks and any other bullshit."

"Gabriel, you can't…"

"You can't change my mind. In another couple of hours it'll be done." He ran a hand through his hair. "I've already lost Amelia and now I almost killed Riley. I'm done. Now, if you don't mind I need to be somewhere. Tell Riley…I'm sorry."

Jameson reached out and grabbed Gabriel's arm. "You tell her your damn self. She was going to risk her health in coming out here to meet you and this is how you're handling it? Running away like a coward?"

Gabriel wound up and punched Jameson square in the face, sending him down to the dirt. "I'm no coward. I've served my country and put my life on the line so many times I've lost count."

Jameson spat blood and got to his knees. "Then act like a man and sort this out the right way. God, you're acting as if you're a couple and you're not." Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he got to his feet. "She's your partner, Gabriel. You're a team and you have a job to do. Start acting like it."

Gabriel's shoulders slumped as he lowered his head.

"You coming or not?" Jameson asked, walking back to the car.

It took him a minute to decide but then he got up and followed Jameson to the car.

* * *

><p>Riley felt as if she were a zombie. The pain medication they'd given her along with the fever ravaging her body took away every ounce of strength she had.<p>

They'd put on a nasal cannula to help her breathe better, which she hated, but she didn't have much say in the matter given her oxygen levels weren't where they needed to be.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked as she came in with an armful of supplies to change the dressing over her bullet wound.

"Feel like shit," she mumbled quietly. It took too much energy to say it any louder.

"This will only take a few minutes and then I'll leave you be." She got right to work in removing the dressing and checking the wound before putting a fresh bandage over it. "It's not weeping anymore. I'm not going to poke at it because I have no doubt that it's still sore."

"I don't even want to look at it."

The nurse smiled at her, patting her arm. "Probably best you don't right now."

"How are your ribs?"

She shrugged and winced. "Fine."

"I promise I won't poke them either," she said with a smile as she moved the blankets and Riley's gown aside to look at the stitches where her chest tube had been when she was in the I.C.U. "Your wound looks good. It's definitely your shoulder that's the culprit." She took her temperature and put a couple of cool clothes on her forehead and neck. "You're still a little over 100 degrees but it's coming down. There's a chance it could go back up so I'll keep these towels on you for a while until it breaks. Give the antibiotics a few days to do their thing and you should start feeling better soon. Just hang in there and rest. No more getting out of bed, you hear me, young lady?"

She nodded slowly and smiled. "Got it."

"Press the call button if you need anything, okay, honey?"

"Thanks."

Her thoughts floated from Gabriel, to her feeling bad that she couldn't go to see him, to flashbacks of what happened in his apartment. Squeezing her eyes shut, she hoped it would all disappear soon and everything could go back to normal.

Thankfully, all those thoughts were silenced as she drifted off to sleep.

Jameson pulled up to his apartment, confusing Gabriel. "What are we doing here?"

"Right now you're going to sober up and clean up. If you go see her like this it's not going to help the situation any."

Gabriel didn't argue and instead did as he was told. He didn't have much of a choice. Jameson found out that the doctor had banned all visitors from Riley's room for a few days so that she could stay calm, rest and fight off the fever.

While the wait left Gabriel antsy, it allowed him some time to think clearly about everything that had happened. Still, when he was finally able to visit Riley, the sight of her still tore at his heart.

"Hey," he said quietly as he entered the room.

"Gabriel. Where've you been?"

He moved a chair over to the side of her bed and sat down. "They wouldn't let anyone see you for a few days. I hear your fever is gone. You feeling any better?"

"A little," she said, still weak from what her body had been through. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you."

He shook his head. "No. Don't be sorry. I should never have agreed to put you through that. Jameson told me you tried to leave." He lowered his head. "Shouldn't have put you through any of this."

"_You_ didn't. The chip malfunctioned somehow. There's nothing either of us can do about it. It happened and we have to find a way to move on from it." She looked at him and could see this was eating away at him. "Have you talked to Lillian yet?"

"No. I wanted to talk to you first."

"Talk to her. Maybe she can give you some time off to think and get your head back in the game." She took in a breath and breathed it out slowly. "They tell me I'm side-lined for at least three to four months, and light desk duty after that."

He chuckled. "_Light_ desk duty? What's that? Lifting a pencil and that's it?"

She laughed. "Pretty much. My shoulder's toast for a while." She could see the smiled begin to fade from his face. "It's okay. I have a shit load of things on my DVR to catch up on."

"Really. Like what?"

She was sorry that she mentioned it. "Oh, I dunno, a bunch of stuff."

He was growing even more intrigued. "The History Channel? SyFy Channel? I'm curious what Riley Neal watches on TV. Maybe The Animal Planet?"

"Maybe."

"Seriously?"

"Come on. Who doesn't love a kitten or a puppy?"

He couldn't stifle his laughter. "Riley Neal melts for kittens. Wow. That is epic information. Do you have one of those 'Hang In There' kitten posters on your bedroom wall?"

"Laugh all you want. What do you watch? No, let me guess, NASCAR or porn."

"Ouch."

"You didn't deny it."

"You're only right on one of them." He raised and lowered his eyebrows a few times.

"Thought so."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company.

"Did they say when they'll let you out of here?" He hated to steer the conversation back to her injuries but he wanted to know.

"Another week as long as the infection stays away. I'd have to have another surgery if it comes back, but they're pretty sure it's under control now."

"I didn't want to hack into your medical file so…"

She smiled. "I'm glad you didn't. I don't think you need the details of what happened after…after you left the apartment."

The thought turned his stomach. "I'm so sorry, Riley."

"I don't remember most of it, just bits and pieces." She lied about that part. She remembered a good majority of it, including being wheeled into the ER and having a chest tube shoved into her chest. The pain was worse than the gunshot wound.

Then there were the nightmares; the flashbacks of Gabriel shooting her, waking up on the floor of Gabriel's apartment and not being able to breathe.

He sighed heavily. "If you're not comfortable working with me anymore I can totally understand."

"I'm fine with it. I should have just restrained you before mentioning it to you."

He gave her a confused look because he didn't remember anything from that morning.

"I told you I was going to restrain you when you were already not yourself. It was a mistake because you were prepared. I should have just done it and then maybe…" She didn't bother finishing her sentence and looked away from him.

"I'm turning myself in, if you will, to Lillian after I leave here. She can decide what she wants to do to me."

"Well, there are missions that still need to be completed and you're their best asset. I'm sure she'll assign you a new protector while I'm benched for a while."

"I hope it's not someone nearly as punctual as you are," he said with a devilish smile.

"Well, frat boy, I hope it is just so I won't feel like I'm the only one that finds it incredibly annoying when you're late."

"On that note, I better go up to Lillian's office. I don't want Jameson taking any heat so the story is that I came here on my own."

"Your secret is safe with me."

He stood up and leaned over, kissing her on the forehead. "Get better and I'll come by and see you when I can."

"Okay," she said, surprised by the kiss.

She watched him leave the room and for the first time in about a week she finally felt much better.

THE END


End file.
